Edinburgh v Ulster (Sat)

HEINEKEN CUP POOL 4

Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh Date: 17 October Kick-off: 1545 BST

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Edinburgh make three changes as they bid to get their Heineken Cup campaign back on track at home to Ulster.

Following the loss at Stade Francais, Nick de Luca, Kyle Traynor and Steve Turnbull replace Ben Cairns, Allan Jacobsen and Craig Hamilton.

It will be a first European start for 22-year-old lock Turnbull.

The home side are still without injury victims Simon Webster, Simon Cross, Ross Rennie, David Callam, Jim Thompson and Jim Hamilton.

Edinburgh can take heart from a 16-13 win over Ulster at Ravenhill last month, with a late Phil Godman drop-goal proving decisive.

However, Ulster visit Murrayfield on the back of three consecutive wins, including last weekend's 26-12 success against Bath.

"It is a massive challenge," said Edinburgh head coach Rob Moffat. "Since we beat them, they have won against Connacht, Scarlets and against Bath in the Heineken Cup - they are on song just now.

"We have to perform to the high standards that we have set. Everyone knows the importance of the game and it is all about regaining the consistency levels which helped us to finish second in the Magners League last season.
"We have learned that you cannot afford to give quality teams a big head-start - we've got to make the opposition fight for every point they get.

"Unfortunately we have conceded too many points which have been down to our own mistakes. So if we can cut out those errors the players realise we have got a good chance of returning to winning ways."

The performances of substitutes de Luca, Traynor and Turnbull when they entered the fray against Stade Francais has earned them a start for Saturday's game against Ulster.

"Last week we used 22 out of 23 players and they all played quite a lot of rugby. The players who have come in have done well coming off the bench and in their eyes they have warranted a start," said Moffat.

Ulster Brian McLaughlin has named a 25-man travelling party and said: "We gained a great result against Bath last week. But while we are delighted with it, we can't dwell on it.

"Now we have to move on and perform at Murrayfield, against a very powerful side. We must and will remain focused, because if we get carried away with ourselves we'll under-achieve.

"This is a young squad and we still have a lot to learn. There's a long way to go."

Dan Tuohy returns to the Ulster panel after injury but McLaughlin is likely to name an unchanged starting XV.
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Edinburgh:
Chris Paterson, Mark Robertson, Nick De Luca, John Houston, Tim Visser, Phil Godman, Mike Blair (captain), Kyle Traynor, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Steve Turnbull, Scott MacLeod, Alan MacDonald, Roddy Grant, Allister Hogg.Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Allan Jacobsen, David Young, Craig Hamilton, Scott Newlands, Greig Laidlaw, Ben Cairns, Steve Jones.

Ulster:
Forwards: Nigel Brady, Brendon Botha, Ryan Caldwell, Tom Court, Bryan Young, Ed O'Donoghue, Stephen Ferris, Andy Kyriacou, Dan Tuohy, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Willie Faloon, Tamaiti Horua, Declan Fitzpatrick.
Backs: Timoci Nagusa, Darren Cave, Niall O'Connor, Simon Danielli, Ian Whitten, Paddy Wallace, Paul Marshall, Isaac Boss, Andrew Trimble, Ian Humphreys, Clinton Schifcofske.